Halfpounder’s Blog

It’s been a few days since I’ve updated the blog. Sorry about that. No excuse other than being a bit lazy…

I’m happy to report that the scale and I are once again on friendly terms. I weighed in last week and showed a four pound loss and maintained the loss with today’s weigh in. I haven’t been good about journaling my food, but I have really kicked up the exercise during the last two weeks. My knee is feeling great—much improved than before the arthroscopic procedure. I’ve been meeting with my personal trainer once a week and I have been riding my bicycle every day.

This morning Linda and I took the bikes 12 miles from home to the lake and this afternoon we made another 10 mile ride from South Fork, up Provo Canyon, back home. My boys offered to go collect our stranded van. Both rides were very nice. The morning ride took us past freshly cut hay fields and it reminded me of a smell from my childhood when there were more farms and less homes in the area. The ride this afternoon was pleasant, but crowded with many people out enjoying the sunshine. We had to slow down and ride carefully in several places, especially near Bridal Veil Falls where families with little ones were splashing and enjoying themselves.

So exercise is helping me get back on track with my diet. But I’ve really struggled this week with cravings. I’ve wanted bread and sweets and have felt like I must have them or die. They have been very strong cravings that I couldn’t lose by simply filling up on something else. I gave in and tried two new recipes: one for New Orleans-style beignets (French fritters coated with powdered sugar) and a sweet bread roll recipe. They were both fabulous… and I’m impressed I could maintain my weight given that I was totally out of control with the bread and sugar this week.

How do you deal with cravings? If you have any great ideas please respond to this post and let me know. My will power is usually strong enough to avoid the impulses, but this week I have given in to just go for it. I have felt like it has been better to have what I’m craving and then move forward. I’m not really happy with this concession to weakness, but I really found it a challenge this week. My son made chocolate chip cookies at our home last night and left two dozen on the counter. They were stored in a zip-lock bag and stared me down this morning. I won. I’ve sure wanted to dip into them all day. We had two of our grandchildren come over this afternoon and Grandpa has been pushing cookies and milk. They are now all eaten and gone and I didn’t give in to them. (how pathetic…)

Where has all my will power gone? Bread, margarine, fried foods, ice cream, sugar, cookies… these have not been problems for me since April of last year! Why now? Why am I struggling with the cravings this week? I don’t have the answer. Hopefully I can come out of this phase a little stronger and not put any weight back on. In the meantime, I will make sure to have my pantry filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. Bananas, apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, and corn on the cob will save me this weekend.

When Weight Watchers introduced the Momentum plan last January, one of the new key concepts was learning how to control hunger by listening to how you feel. The goal is to avoid becoming too hungry and at the other extreme eating into oblivion. The benefits are many, but basically by eating smaller portions more frequently you keep your metabolism fired up and consume less overall calories. It has been working quite well for me. I work really hard to eat something every three hours or so—usually a piece of fruit—and I rarely feel “screaming gotta eat right now” hunger and have only occasionally eaten to the bloated feeling.

I read recently another reference to the hunger/fullness scale. It is from the Duke Diet and Fitness Center and is very similar to the Weight Watchers material. What I like most about the Duke material is the description of how your stomach speaks to you. I hope this information is helpful for you. I feel strongly it is a key to successful long-term weight management.

I promise to be better about posting. I hope you are doing well and finding success in your health management goals.

Take care,
Kirk

Hunger/Fullness Scale

Are you actually hungry? Use this scale to measure your hunger and to better manage the way you eat.

From the Duke Diet & Fitness Center

The Hunger/Fullness Scale was developed by Barbara Craighead, PhD, to help people gauge their hunger to determine whether they need to eat or not. The next time you feel hungry or finish a meal, take a moment to rate your feeling of hunger or fullness on the scale

1 – Very Hungry
2 – Moderately Hungry
3 – Mildly Hungry
4 – Neutral
5 – Mildly Full
6 – Very Full
7 – Much Too Full
(The desirable zone is 2.5 to 5.5)

Here’s a little more about what the numbers mean:
1: Very hungry; starving; desperate. Your stomach is “screaming.”?
2: Moderately hungry; ready to eat. Your stomach is “talking.”?
3: Mildly hungry; beginning hunger. Your stomach is “whispering.”?
4: Neutral. You feel no sensations of hunger or fullness.
5: Mildly full. You feel satisfied.
6: Very full. Your stomach is beginning to feel a bit distended.
7: Much too full. Your stomach feels stuffed.

This is a subjective scale — it isn’t objective in the way that counting calories is. For that reason, it can be more difficult to use. However, continued focus and practice will help you become more sensitive to your body’s signals of hunger and fullness. Here are some tips:
• We recommend staying between 2.5 and 5.5.
• Never allow yourself to get down to 1. Have healthy snacks planned in advance and eat one if you fall below 2.5 on the scale. It typically takes three to four hours for the stomach to empty, so you should try not to go too much longer than that without eating.
• Stop eating at 5.5. Eat slowly — it takes 20 minutes for your brain to know your stomach is full.

The really important question to ask yourself before you eat anything is “Am I really hungry?” Tune in to the physical sensations you’re experiencing. Rate your hunger on the Hunger/Fullness Scale. If you aren’t really hungry, what else may be going on? You may be eating in response to emotions or stress.

From the renowned Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University comesThe Duke Diet (published April 2007) and The Duke Diet & Fitness Online Weight-Loss Program. The book and its companion online program pay special attention to the behavioral and emotional aspects of lifestyle change, teaching strategies for breaking unhealthy habits, curbing cravings, reducing stress, and much more.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/emotional-eating-feature/hunger-fullness-scale.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthDietandNutrition_20090715

So I get on the scale again this morning (because I blew off my weigh-in yesterday… slept in, whatever) and I’m up a total of 15 pounds from my best weigh-in a month or so ago. A little depressing…. but I can do this.

I’ve done real well on the bike rides: three days in a row! I’m going to get out every day. I have physical therapy scheduled the next two Mondays and I have a session scheduled with my personal trainer on Tuesday.

I also journaled my breakfast this morning and will get back in the regular routine of writing down my food. Good nutrition and exercise—that’s how you do it. I have proven it works, now I just need to get back in my dedicated mode.

I read another good article from Jillian today. It is in answer to a question asked about skipping meals. Weight Watchers approaches the idea in their new Momentum Program by tracking your levels of satisfaction. A six point scale from starving hungry to Thanksgiving feast bloated (last part described in my own words) all designed to help you be more in control of when and how much you eat. The other part of the equation is that being in control might allow you to make better nutritional choices.

The goal is to keep you at a level of satisfaction that’s as constant as possible: never too hungry and never over-full. The logic is if you are never famished you will be more likely to chose what you eat more carefully. I know everyone of you reading this blog knows what I’m talking about. You skip a meal and you are out driving around in your car and pass a fast food joint. Before you know it, you’ve stopped and you are stuffing your face with a cheeseburger (or something equally as obnoxious.) Would you make the same decision if you were not feeling so hungry? I doubt it. You would probably say to yourself, “Hmmm, I’m feeling a bit hungry. I’ll have to fix something when I get home.” Then once in your safe environment of home you will choose something more nutritious for yourself to eat.

So read this article and see if it makes any sense to you. I like to plan eating about every three hours. They are not always big meals. Sometimes I will just grab some fruit and a handful of nuts. The idea is to help maintain the feeling of satisfaction and avoid becoming beastly hungry. (I used beastly because the inner out-of-control eating me is a beast to my diet.)

Have a great Sabbath. Get out and breath some fresh air today and eat an extra piece of frui

Your good friend in healthy living,

Kirk

Losing It with Jillian, Online with Jillian Michaels, Sunday, June 28, 2009
by Jillian Michaels

SUNDAY: ASK JILLIAN

Okay to Skip Meals?

Question: I’m trying to learn to listen to my body and eat only when I am hungry, and sometimes I just don’t really want anything to eat. Is it okay to skip meals or to eat fewer than the recommended calories?
Answer: You should NOT skip meals. There are so many adverse effects to skipping meals. Not only does it slow your metabolism but it can also lead to overeating, because when you do eat, you’re overly hungry.
As for cutting your calories below your recommended allowance, remember this golden rule: Never allow your daily calorie allowance to fall below 1,200 if you are a woman and 1,500 if you are a man. Falling below these daily allowances can do real damage to your metabolism and result in excessive loss of lean muscle tissue. When you dramatically reduce your calories on a consistent basis, it can slow your metabolism or trigger a plateau.

Consistent exercise — plus the occasional high-calorie day — will help ward off a plateau.
Now, provided you are not going below the 1,200 mark, you CAN drop your daily calories below your usual allowance, but make sure that you are exercising and taking the occasional high-calorie day to help you avoid a plateau.

JILLIAN’S TIP OF THE DAY
Eat Every Four Hours

I want you to eat every four hours — breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. This way of eating keeps your stomach from rumbling and your metabolism happy. Starve yourself for any portion of the day and you cheat yourself out of a bump in your metabolic rate. When you first start to eat every four hours, you might find that you’re not very hungry when the four hours are up. But that’s the idea — you don’t want to be famished by the time you eat again. You want to head off extreme hunger, which is a signal that your blood sugar has dipped too low and will lead to cravings and overeating.

It was fun to read this article and nod my head as I moved down the numbered items. I’ve been doing most of these things during the past year and have been successful.

Take a minute and read through the list. These things work. I hope you discover some good ideas about how to make healthier choices as you read the article.

Have a good week,
Kirk

10 Steps to Speed Weight Loss
Making simple changes that either cut out or burn off extra calories will add up to weight loss over the course of a year.
By Madeline Vann, MPH
Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH
If you’re struggling with weight loss, then you already know it’s the little things that add up — the “little bit more” at the dinner buffet, the “little bit too tight” feeling of your clothes. But what if you also knew about the little things you could do every day to increase your weight- loss success? Here they are.
10 Steps to Speed Weight Loss
1. Switch up your snacks. “First of all, watch mindless snacking,” says Emily Banes, RD, clinical dietitian at the Houston Northwest Medical Center in Houston, Texas. “[Those calories] really add up.” Instead of grazing on the baked goodies in the break room, have a plan for healthy snacks that combines a little bit of fat, protein, and crunch, such as apple slices smeared with peanut butter. If you are counting calories, doing the math may help: a pound is the equivalent of 3,500 calories, so if you can cut 100 calories out of your day, you will lose a pound in just over a month.
2. Cut out high-calorie condiments and sugars. “Instead of getting a coffee with sugar, try Splenda,” says Banes. Likewise, try mustard on your burger or sandwich instead of mayonnaise, and order your salad dressing on the side so that you can control the amount you eat.
3. Hoof it. “Exercise is key,” says Banes. People who manage at least 150 minutes of activity a week are more successful with weight loss. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or park a bit farther from your destination so you have to walk. This will add extra exercise — and burn more calories.
4. Anticipate temptation. If you know you can’t resist freshly baked brownies, don’t keep a mix in your pantry. Also, if you are going somewhere with friends and family and know you’ll have a hard time controlling yourself, make a decision before you get there about what you will eat — and stick to it.
5. Try the veggie-loaded plate method. Banes recommends using your plate to guide your food selection and portion sizes. One half of the plate should be vegetables. The other side can be split between protein and starchy carbohydrates. If you decide to get a second plate, says Banes, it had better be all vegetables. People who eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day are more successful with weight loss.
6. Skip the fast food. A study of 1,713 adults who have been successful with weight loss demonstrated that people who eat at fast-food restaurants less than twice a week have greater success with their weight loss. “If you do eat fast foods, don’t supersize it,” says Banes, and try to opt for a salad, small portions, or “get baked, not fried.”
7. Limit the calories you drink. While most people understand sugary sodas add calories, Banes sees a misconception when it comes to sweet tea and juices. Sweetened tea is no less calorie-dense than soda, and you’d be better off eating the fruit than drinking the juice, advises Banes.
8. Be accountable. Whether you have a diet buddy you check in with, a support group, or a food diary, keeping track of your daily food choices takes only a few minutes, but can double your weight-loss success.
9. Order smaller portions. Data suggests that people who order smaller portions or share a plate at restaurants are more successful with weight loss. Banes recommends ordering the lunch portion, an appetizer, or a children’s meal — or put up to half your meal into a doggy bag before you begin eating.
10. Acknowledge your success. People who believe they can succeed with weight loss actually do lose weight more successfully. How do you gain this confidence? Take a moment to pat yourself on the back when you make healthy choices and achieve your short-term goals.
These small changes, all of which can easily be made, will quickly add up to more pounds lost over time.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight/steps-to-speed-up-weight-loss.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthDietandNutrition_20090506

I read the article “Boost Your Metabolism with Mini-Meals” (see below) and realized this idea is one of the most important principles I’ve learned about weight loss. In Weight Watchers the big push for 2009 has been the Momentum Plan. The promotional mascot for the program is called “Hunger.” He’s a little orange guy that represents all the temptations we might have to make poor nutrition choices.

At weekly weigh-in you can buy a magnetized Hunger doll to put on your refrigerator as a reminder to make good choices. Cute. I like the online animation that shows Hunger pulling a cupcake from behind his back to tempt you into an unplanned snack.

I find when I eat smaller meals and snacks 5-6 times during the day I avoid feeling hungry—food becomes less of a focus. Do you ever catch yourself planning your day around the next time you eat? Sometimes I’ve caught myself thinking about what I will be eating for dinner while I’m eating lunch. I want to break this cycle: food is not the center of my existence. Learning how to avoid strong hunger feelings is a key element to staying on a nutrition plan. It’s good to feel hungry, please don’t misunderstand, but the kind of hunger that has you emptying cupboards looking for chocolate is not healthy. It’s compulsive.

This is the problem I faced in my recent road-trip to California. I hadn’t planned in advance how to maintain my regular 2-3 hour healthy snack/mini-meal intervals. As a result, when hunger grew almost unbearable, I stopped the car at the nearest fast food drive-through and lost the battle: I made poor nutrition choices because I was feeling almost panic driven to eat a cheeseburger. I had to have one and it had to be now.

I hate that feeling of being out of control. When I am driven by strong feelings of hunger I seem to forget all the healthy choices available to me. My passion becomes satisfying the beast: I have to eat. In a way I become the orange guy. My hunger takes over and I stop being my healthy self. I’m a selfish person: it really bothers me to give my impulse control over to hunger.

I hope this article gives you something to ponder. We can be more in control. We can put hunger in proper perspective and make good nutritional choices.

Have a great weekend,
Kirk

Boost Your Metabolism With Mini-Meals
Spreading your calories throughout the day may help you stick to your diet and keep off the weight.
By Krisha McCoy, MS
Medically reviewed by Niya Jones, MD, MPH

“This time I am going to stick to my diet,” you tell yourself. You make every effort to follow a healthful eating plan, but in a moment of weakness, hunger strikes and you find yourself indulging in a feeding frenzy.
Is there any way to break this vicious cycle and lose weight for good? It might be time to consider not only looking at what you eat, but also when you eat.

Skip Meals Now, Overeat Later
If you are trying to lose weight, you probably know the importance of keeping an eye on the number of calories you’re consuming. But you may not know that how many calories you eat at each sitting can make a difference in your weight-loss efforts, too.

There is evidence that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer, larger meals during the day tend to weigh more than people who eat a healthy breakfast and four or five smaller meals. This may be because they end up feeling hungrier, which makes it easy to give into temptation. “When you skip meals you will [eventually] overeat,” says Pete McCall, MS, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise.

When you go for hours without eating, your blood sugar levels dip, which can leave you feeling hungry and shaky. A drop in blood sugar can also trigger people to lose their willpower and reach for a calorie-laden treat.

Smaller Meals, More Often
If you eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day, your appetite may be better controlled, helping you adhere to your weight-loss plan. By consistently fueling your body with calories — even limited calories — you avoid the feeling of starvation that derails so many diets.

“The idea is that if you have three meals and a couple of snacks throughout the day, you are regulating your blood sugar and maintaining your body chemistry,” notes McCall.
When you are consuming fewer calories every day as part of a weight-loss plan, it’s even more important to eat consistently throughout the day to reassure your body that you are not starving. According to Kimberly Lummus, MS, RD, when you eat too few calories, your body goes into starvation mode and actually holds onto calories, which can sabotage weight loss.

Managing Your Calorie Intake
Switching from two or three large meals to five or six “mini-meals” may help keep both your blood sugar and metabolism steady. McCall recommends restructuring the day’s intake into smaller meals plus more substantial snacks. For someone who plans to eat about 2,000 calories per day, for example, he suggests eating three meals of 500 to 600 calories each and two 100- to 200-calorie snacks.

If eating larger meals is working for you and you’re meeting your weight-loss goals, there is no reason to switch to smaller meals. Spreading your calories out may simply help you better control your appetite and perhaps increase your diet success, especially if you reach a weight-loss plateau.

Remember that the bottom line for weight loss remains the same: “Monitor your caloric consumption,” advises McCall. “Do not over-consume.”

http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight/boosting-metabolism-with-mini-meals.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthDietandNutrition_20090424